Health Information Technology ( Hit )

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 identified three main components of meaningful use: the use of a certified EHR in a meaningful manner, electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of care, and the use of technology to submit clinical outcomes and quality measures (Heath Resources and Service Administration, n.d.). ARRA includes many measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, with the “Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act” being an example. The HITECH Act is an effort led by Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) in support of electronic health records and meaningful use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 2016). According to Galbraith (2013), the HITECH Act aims to promote the use of EHRs by providing over $27 billion in monetary incentives for health care providers that become “meaningful users”. CMS uses these core objectives to determine if a health care provider has satisfied meaningful use and is eligible to receive financial incentives (Galbraith, 2013).

For over 10 years, all areas of industry have been investing in informational technology (IT). IT offers faster and more proficient care especially for the healthcare industry. Health information technology (HIT) is making significant changes in how care is being delivered and addressed for patients and healthcare workers. HIT includes electronic health records (EHR), personal health records (PHI), electronic prescribing and more. The potential list is endless. HIT provides for more accurate and efficient documentation, prescriptions, and education. The Obama administration came up with an answer to help in HIT by instituting the meaningful use. This paper will discuss the overview of meaningful use, its’ core criteria, and recommendations for additional criteria.

The ARRA includes the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which pursues to improve American Healthcare and patient care through an extraordinary investment in Healthcare IT (HIT). The requirements of the HITECH Act are precisely designed to work jointly to provide the necessary assistance and technical operation to providers, enable grammatical relation and organization within and among states, establish connectivity in case of emergencies, and see to it the workforce is properly trained and equipped to be meaningful users of certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs). These computer software products are designed collaboratively to intensify the footing for every American to profit from an electronic health record (EHR) as part of a modernized, interrelated, and vastly improved grouping of care delivery.

“At least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 98,000 people, die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented, according to estimates from two major studies.” (IOM, 1999) A follow up report in 2001 pointed out how health information technology (HIT) and health information exchange (HIE) can be used to reduce errors and improve efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system. This new national focus

Health information technology (HIT) involves trading of health information in an electronic format to advance health care, reduce health expenditures, improve work efficiency, decrease medication errors, and make health care more accessible. Maintaining privacy and security of health information is crucial when technology is involved. Health information exchange plays an important role in improving the quality and delivery of health care and cost-effectiveness. “There is very little electronic information sharing among clinicians, hospitals, and other providers, despite considerable investments in health information technology (IT) over the past five years” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014, p. 1).

For this reason, health care providers need relevant and accurate information to deliver quality medical care to patients. The root cause of implementation of HIT can be categorized as the gap between well-resourced and under-resourced providers and disparities exacerbated among at-risk populations (Can Health, 2012). Under-resourced providers serve population at-risk rather the resourced providers and they require sufficient funding to maintain and implement health technology. This creates a gap between the two providers resulting in inconsistencies in health care. For example, to implement Electronic Health Records system, “eligible providers may receive incentive payments during the 2011-2015 time period if they can demonstrate adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology” (Can Health,

Information technology and technology exchange has become a daily routine this day in age. The majority of the world communicates through email, text messages, video calls or over the phone for various reasons. In the health care field health information was documented, stored, reviewed and shared through hand written charts and kept in files. Since the 1980’s computer technology was beginning to be a known device, until the late 90’s is when health information technology began to evolve. Many people are unaware of health information technology (HIT), what it is or how it can positively or negatively affect them. The government should continue to contribute more attention to the development of HIT also on making

The use of health information technology has evolved over the years to become an integral part of the patient care. Note to mention that technology in healthcare initially was driven by hospital shared accounting system, then, it changes to drugs and reimbursement program. The system has expanded to the point that at the corner of 21 century, health technology is different from what it was before. Meanwhile, complementary technologies integrate the system. It started with electronic medical record (EMR) and progresses to electronic health record (HER) or e-health that involves the use of computer and other computer-based devices to collect, store, and retrieve data that are in turn transformed into information for meaningful use; thus, the term of health information technology (HIT). In attempt to forecast meaningful use of health information technology, it is possible to list other emerging health information technology devices, such as mobile health (m-health) and ubiquitous health (u-health) that will not be part of the discussion in this paper. For the record, meaningful use of electronic health record is based on care outcome reimbursement, whereas any clinical decisions should aim to support quality care at a low cost. Thus, providers, nurses, and other health disciplinary team should aim their daily practice towards the pillars of care outcomes that are the attributes of meaningful use. For this

Maintaining patients’ safety is vital for the health industry. As the world we live in continue to change so should the way we correct or improve certain matters. Technology advancements is something that have a level of control on the way things function in the health industry. Patients’ safety and health technology information goes hand and hand, towards protecting the individuals involved. Many healthcare data proposes that medical mistakes and errors result from complex systems. Thus, health providers aren’t always responsible for medical errors. That why it’s vital to have solutions on ways to improve cost, quality care, and patient safety. The benefits of using health information technology systems, is having access to medical records

With health care costs and quality assurance taking central roles in the health care arena, increasing attention is being directed towards the potential of health information technology (IT) to lower health care spending and to improve efficiency, quality and safety of medical care delivery. One of the primary motivators for adopting many health IT applications is the belief that they improve the quality of

Applying health information technology (HIT) can lead to further issues many organizations are not adequately prepared for. Although HIT is unquestionably the answer to deliver safe, efficient, and low-cost quality care, organizational leaders and providers are ill-equipped to fund and support advances in technology needed to fully perform its job. Additionally, even providers need to redefine their roles as they discover the impact of these technological changes in their practices. Since the only option is to move forward with advancing technology, health team providers should might as well be experts in health informatics to be able to direct the HIT’s course to meeting health care goals

Healthcare organizations implement clinical healthcare information technology (HIT) to improve the quality of care, enhance patient safety, and eliminate inefficiencies in order to reduce the cost of care. Irrespective of the technology solution selected, however, implementing an expensive, comprehensive clinical HIT system is nothing short of immensely disruptive to any organization. Senior management teams stake hard-earned reputations on the successful deployment of these very complex technology platforms. Failure not only wastes millions of dollars of scarce investment resources, but also poisons, for a period of time, the goodwill among clinicians needed to implement these critical information technology tools.

The U.S. transforming health care system by promoting development of a nationwide Health IT infrastructure since 2004. Which allows for electronic use and exchange of information. Most of the healthcare institution are encouraged by the Health Information Technology (HIT) and US Government to develop an integrated computer based information management environment to use electronic

Almost every industry is now computerized and enhanced with the latest technology—equipped for rapid data retrieval and transmission. Like all computerized technology, the format of patient health records has evolved dramatically over time. With the evolution of technology, a need has been identified for the improvement of efficiency and productivity in the transmission of patient data (Practice Fusion, 2016). In order to achieve this goal, patient medical records have now adopted an electronic format and are now referred to as electronic health records (EHRs). Both medical professionals and patients can equally benefit from the use of EHR. This format of record keeping offers easy access to medical records to patients and providers, simplified data entry and compilation, quick storage of medical information, reduced chance for error in the composition and interpretation of physician notes. EHRs may also aid in the transmission of data, easy transmission of lab results, patient medication allergies, imaging and pre-existing conditions, reduces the chance for duplication of lab tests, and saving time and money for both patients and healthcare professionals (Ana Maria College, 2016). In an effort to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act, was established (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). The HITECH Act supports the concept of EHR meaningful use, a

During the ever changing world in healthcare today, there needed to be a better way to communicate important health information between facilities. A program through HITECH was developed for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide and institute plans to increase health care quality, safety, and efficiency through the improvement of health information technology (HIT), including electronic health records and private and secure electronic health information exchange. During the ARRA Act in 2009, the idea of Meaningful Use became into effect with the first stages beginning in September 2010. There are three main factors of meaningful use, “using the certified EHR in a meaningful manner, for electronic exchange of health